Heart Sick by Chelsea Cain

I picked this book up as a Bargain Book because I received the sequel, Sweetheart, as an ARC. I was excited to find it in Bargain Books because I hate to read a series book out of order. I felt like this one was a mildly mediocre to decent book. I don't know, something about it didn't quite grip me the way, I thought it might.

Archie Sheridan, the main character, is a cop who became a victim of the serial killer (Gretchen Lowell) he tracked for nearly a decade. She lured him into her web and nearly didn't let him out alive. This book begins with Gretchen in jail, having turned herself in when she called 911 to save Archie's life. She agreed to a plea deal where she would give authorities information on the location of more of victims' bodies if she only got life in prison and if Archie was the only one she gave the information to. Gretchen and Archie have an interesting relationship. That's the background story. The current story involves a new serial killer Archie is tracking and newspaper writer Susan Ward is assigned to write a series of articles about Archie tracking this new killer. Cain weaves a story where the characters all end up linked in the end.

When I finished the book, I just thought, eh. It was okay. I think I was a little disappointed in the character who ended up being the most recent serial killer. I thought it might be different. But it did make sense for the story. This was Cain's debut novel and although, it was fairly well-written, I found the characters to be a little flat and maybe the writing to be a bit immature. It wasn't an awful book by any means. I checked out some customer reviews on the B&N website and everyone just raved about the book and thought it was great and wonderful. So I think I'm in the minority for this one not really hitting me. It's not a waste of time, it just wasn't one of the best books I've read this year. I'm hoping Cain will have grown a little bit as a writer when I read Sweetheart (arriving in stores, Sept. 2nd, 2008). In the sequel, Gretchen escapes from prison and Archie has to track her down again.